Tank Of The Month.

[Fluval-1200]

Just a thought here but i think the tank of the month competitions should be more equal - ie 10 gal vs 10 gal.
 
From my experience small tanks are far easier to scape and get far better results. Big tanks on the other hand are hard to scape and require alot of work+money to get a decent result.
 
Also marine vs marine.
 
Just a thought, cheers.
 
 
 

 

[SamB]

I like the wide open-ness of the competition. A large tank offers far more options for 'scaping which offsets the potential "easyness" of 'scaping a smaller tank.
 
As for the marine vs. marine and freshwater vs. freshwater, that is valid since it sort of comes down to personal preference and a marine 'scape can't be equally compared to a freshwater 'scape

 

[Ch4rlie]

I actually like seeing the diversity of the choices on TOTM, usually means something for everyone every month. 
 
Think would be too difficult to have equal matching of marine v marine, FW v FW, what about nano tanks, shrimp tanks, planted tanks, so who would this be regulated and kept simple?
 
I'd say, just leave as is and think everyone enjoys it that way.
 
A decent idea though, worth mentioning.

 

[crunch7]

The present thing is cool because it gives everybody a chance to vote without bias and it also generates curiosity for new ideas and interests in hobbyists. Also TOFM means the most popular tank among the entries, what you are saying is correct, but members should enter their best piece in the competition. When people vote they just look at the appearence final tank thats all. Besides it will be quite difficult to moderate and hold so many TOFM`s every month.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The feedback is appreciated, and were there sufficient entries each month to go to a more 'specialized' format it would be a lot more reasonable.  Unfortunately, many months there are no marine tanks entered, or only one.  Also, there are many times only a few tanks entered overall (for example, this month looks like only 3 tanks have been entered thus far), if we specialized it, then we would have multiple categories with no entries and some with only one.
 
 
The number of entries really limits the format to the way we have it now.  It may be 'unfair' as some would see it to put a marine up against a freshwater tank, but who's to say which side has the advantage?  Its a matter of personal taste, and that's ultimately what these comps are about - personal taste.  If I vote for one tank against another, I and I alone, am the only one who knows what criteria I used in determining which I prefer.  Was it fresh vs. salt, was it large versus small, was it based on personal experience with similar sized tanks... lots of reasons to vote for one tank over another.
 
 
I am glad that the tank, fish and pet competitions are popular.  Imho, what the competitions are really about, is not 'bragging rights' in terms of who wins and who loses, but a chance for members to share their tanks, and for other members to gain some inspiration.